ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS AND SUSTAINABILITY

Transcription

1 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS AND SUSTAINABILITY

2 Todays Topics Road Salt Management Economic Incentives Environmental Impacts Technological Advances

3 DOES MANAGING OUR SALT USAGE MEAN LOWERING OUR LEVELS OF SERVICE?

4 What is acceptable? Would you be satisfied in either one of these situations?

5 Sustainability Challenges Most emphasis goes to the areas of planning and construction projects In transportation, most tools are very high level Often sustainability is considered to be synonymous with environmentalism As a result, there was no clear vision of how to be sustainable while providing sustainable winter services

6 Let s Remember the Reason Why 1,300 killed, 116,800 injured annually on snowy, slushy, or icy pavements 544 million vehicle hours of delay due to snow and ice annually, about a quarter of all non-recurrent delays

7 Why Do We Do Winter Maintenance? Two primary reasons, both well established by research Safety Marquette University study showed proper use of road salt resulted in: Crashes reduced by 88% Injuries reduced by 85% Accident costs reduced by 85% University of Waterloo Study showed proper use of road salt resulted in a 95% reduction of crashes on four-lane highways Related University of Waterloo study showed that chloride levels were reduced by 50% when best practices were used

8 Not Just Safety - Mobility Study by Global Insights looked at the impact of a one day shutdown for a State due to a winter storm. They found: A one-day major snowstorm can cause a state $300-$700 million in direct and indirect costs The economic impact of snow-related closures far exceeds the cost of timely snow removal Snow related shutdowns harm hourly workers the worst Other studies have shown that safe and sustainable snowfighting when applied to a winter storm pays for itself in the first 25 minutes of operations Plus, a high level of service is what we expect

9 SO what is in winter maintenance? Let s take it as a given that a sustainable program will impact all issues of a winter maintenance program How can we break this down? How can we make it work for us?

10 Winter Maintenance Goals Provide safety and mobility to road users Do this without negatively impacting the environment Do this within budget Provide the right level of service Address the social expectations of our community Has to be a systems based approach Every step along the way requires attention Needs cooperation and collaboration between all stakeholders Sustainability requires such cooperation to be effective

11 Feedback Direct Impact Materials Usage Strategic (annual) Operations Tactical (per-storm) Operations Levels of Service Performance Measurement and Continuous Improvement Equipment Selection and Operations

12 Levels of Service They are at the center of winter maintenance and drive all our actions (ideally) Different roads receive different levels of effort Road types often differentiated in terms of Average Daily Traffic (AADT) Priority Levels Assigned Because they are central, important they be created properly and then followed

13 Suitable Levels of Service Very location specific what works in Illinois would not work in Georgia! Road type specific residential streets should not receive the same efforts as Interstates Possibly time of day specific major commuter routes should have higher priority in the few hours leading up to rush hour

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16 The Level of Service and Societal Factors We have to provide the right level of service This is different for different communities An interstate should have a different level than a county road Base this on ADT and other factors (school bus routes, emergency routes, etc.) But, consider this as one circle (of several) that we need to make sure our winter maintenance falls within The diameter of the circle reflects the requirements of our community

17 The Economic Circle We have not yet found the winter maintenance budget fairy godmother Which means we all struggle with budget limits A bigger budget means more options (a bigger budget circle ) But remember to think in terms of life cycle costing, not just up-front, or operating costs A solution that ignores or short changes economic concerns is inherently unsustainable

18 What the Systems Approach Reminds Us Every crash is a small scale, localized, environmental disaster Spilled fluids Gasoline or diesel Coolants Engine oil Spilled cargo Hazardous materials, anyone? Energy burden of vehicle replacement

19 A Goal Statement? Achieve our desired level of service in a timely manner, with an appropriate use of resources and materials, taking into account the severity of the storm conditions that we are facing

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21 Training Sustainability in winter maintenance Certification

22 IMPLEMENTING EXCELLENT PRACTICES Proven pro-active approaches Treated materials Pre-wetting Anti-icing Applying materials Sensible salting Treatment recommendations Computerized dispensing systems Accountability Data collection calibration Implementing new Technology What s new

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24 Why Pre-wet? Minimizes scatter during application Keeps 20 to 30 percent more material on the road Jumpstarts brine process Sticks sand to snow surface Reduces working temperature of salt Reduces Environmental impacts Saves money

25 Anti-icing Prevents Snow From Freezing And Bonding To A Surface. PRO-ACTIVE TREATMENT PRIOR TO AN EVENT Nothing is lost off the roadway

26 Treated vs. Untreated Know your Expectations

27 Putting down only what is needed. Level of service what are we striving to achieve When will we achieve it? during the storm, following the storm, how long after the storm?

28 Table 1: Application Rates Used by Iowa Department of Transportation Salt Application Rate Guidelines Prewetted 12 side lane (assume 2-hr route) Surface Temperature (Fahrenheit) lbs of salt to be applied per lane mile Heavy Frost, Mist, Light Snow Drizzle, Medium Snow ½ per hour Light Rain, Heavy Snow 1 per hour Prewetted 12 wide lane (assume 3-hr route) Surface Temperature (Fahrenheit) lbs of salt to be applied per lane mile Heavy Frost, Mist, Light Snow Drizzle, Medium Snow ½ per hour Light Rain, Heavy Snow 1 per hour

29 Units for all agencies

30 PROPER SALT STORAGE

31 OVER SALTING

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33 Challenges with new road design

34 What is our Triple Bottom Line? Customers expect safe roads but want us to achieve that without negatively impacting the environment

35 How Do We Measure Our Progress? We need a tool Listing of all/most of the excellent practices out there Does not mean we have to do them all every agency/community is different - but Allows us to track the degree to which we are making progress year on year, and Encourages us to identify ways we might continue to improve

36 Level of Service Questions Are all roads within an agency s area of responsibility assigned a level of service? Are the different levels of service clearly identified? Can agency personnel easily determine whether and when a given stretch of road has achieved its desired level of service? Has the community served by the agency been significantly involved in the process of determining levels of service for roads serviced by the agency? Does a plan exist to re-evaluate levels of service on agency roads on a regular basis? Is the level of service of a given road segment determined by including factors such as AADT, peak hour traffic, access for emergency services, school bus routes, and other similar factors? Have road segments that are in particularly environmentally sensitive areas been clearly identified, and assigned a level of service accordingly? Response Type Yes/no Yes/no Yes/no Yes/no Yes/no Yes/no Yes/no Sustainability TABLE 3: CHECKLIST Tool QUESTIONS Questions IN THE on LEVEL Level OF SERVICE of Service AREA

37 Equipment Selection and Operation Questions Response Type Are all material delivery systems calibrated regularly? Annually or monthly? Three options - annual/monthly/ none Do all agency vehicles have surface temperature measuring equipment attached? Three options - Some vehicles? No vehicles at all? all/some/none Is all winter maintenance equipment specified and purchased on the basis of lifecycle costs? Yes/no Does material delivery equipment have the capability to record where material Yes/no was placed on the road, and at what rate it was placed? Is the equipment fleet managed using a pro-active maintenance system? Yes/no Is it standard practice in equipment operations to use the most fuel efficient Yes/no vehicle capable of efficiently conducting a specified task? Do fuel efficiency, vibration reduction, minimizing of pavement damage, and Yes/no wear resistance all get incorporated into cutting edge selection for snow plow blades? Are various pieces of equipment (e.g. snow plows, material delivery systems) Yes/no easily exchanged between vehicles (i.e. in less than 10 minutes)? Sustainability Tool Questions on Equipment And Operations TABLE 5: CHECKLIST QUESTIONS IN THE EQUIPMENT SELECTION AND OPERATIONS AREA

38 Tactical (Per storm) Operations Questions Do you use some sort of Value Added Meteorological Service to provide forecasts for your winter storms? Are these forecasts site specific (i.e. they provide different forecasts for different road segments)? Do these forecasts provide pavement temperature forecasts? Do you adapt your storm strategies depending on the time of day at which the storm starts or ends, to take account of variations in traffic levels? Do you have systems in place to deal with disruptions that can occur during winter storms (e.g. equipment failure, traffic congestion, crashes etc.)? Do you use methods to dry out the road at the end of the storm for those cases where temperatures are expected to drop and wind speeds to rise? Do you have systems in place that allow for easy communication with emergency services in your area? Response Type Yes/no Yes/no Yes/no Yes/no Yes/no Yes/no Yes/no TABLE 8: CHECKLIST QUESTIONS IN THE TACTICAL (PER STORM) OPERATIONS Sustainability Tool Questions AREA on Tactical Operations

39 The Salt Institute has created an Award Program to recognize agencies that demonstrate their commitment to Safe and Sustainable Snowfighting

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43 How Successful? About 100 agencies each year apply for the award But, there are perhaps 17,000 agencies in the US with responsibility for providing winter services So, there is definitely room for expansion, but Every journey begins with a single step

44 Questions?